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TULSA, Okla. - The University of Cincinnati women's tennis team saw their season come to an end in dramatic fashion Wednesday afternoon, suffering a 4-3 loss to Temple in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference Tennis Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
American Athletic Conference Championships
Temple vs. Cincinnati
Tulsa, Oklahoma (Michael D. Case Tennis Center)
April 15, 2015
No. 7 Temple 4, No. 10 Cincinnati 3
// DOUBLES
(Order of Finish: 1,2*)
1. Lauren Bellinger/Kelly Poggensee-Wei (CIN) def. Alina Abdurakhimova/Dina Karina (TEM), 6-1
2. Katya Bure/Ali Miller (CIN) def. Minami Okajima/Mariana Bedon (TEM), 6-3
3. Natalia Abdalla/Hannah Willie (CIN) vs. Monet Stuckey-Willis/Rebecca Breland (TEM), DNF
The Bearcats jumped out to 1-0 lead thanks to wins by the first and second doubles pairs. Kelly Poggensee-Wei (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North) and Lauren Bellinger (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome) picked up the first win by a 6-1 score before Katya Bure (Springfield, N.J./Jonathan Dayton) and Ali Miller (Portsmouth, Ohio/Portsmouth) secured the opening point with a 6-3 win.
// SINGLES
(Order of Finish: 4,3,6,2,1,5)
1. Alina Abdurakhimova (TEM) def. Kelly Poggensee-Wei (CIN), 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
2. Monet Stuckey-Willis (TEM) def. Katya Bure (CIN), 7-6(7), 6-1
3. Ali Miller (CIN) def. Dina Karina (TEM), 6-0, 6-4
4. Lauren Bellinger (CIN) def. Minami Okajima (TEM), 6-2, 6-0
5. Yana Khon (TEM) def. Hannah Wille (CIN), 7-6, 7-5
6. Anais Nussaume (TEM) def. Natalia Abdalla (CIN), 6-2, 6-3
Cincinnati looked to be in control of the match after Bellinger and Miller pushed UC's lead to 3-0 with wins in singles play. Lauren Bellinger made quick work of her opponent on court No. 4, winning the first set 6-2 before picking up the 6-0 sweep in the second set. Miller also won in straight sets, sweeping the opening set and then following up with a 6-4 win.
However, it was all Temple from there as the Owls picked up their first point of the match on court No. 6. They followed with a pair wins at No. 1 and No. 2 to tie things up at three. The match would be decided on Court No. 5 where Hannah Wille (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway Central) lost the opening set to Yana Khon by a 7-6 score. The second set featured a back-and-forth affair before Wille fell 7-5 and the Owls earned the tournament victory.
// COACH TOTH ON THE BEARCATS
"This was a very difficult way to end our season today, but you have to give Temple a lot of credit. Any team that comes back from down 0-3 in a conference tournament situation certainly deserves to play in the next round. Our girls certainly played well enough to win today and I am really proud of their effort. Unfortunately, we just didn't put the match away when it was there for the taking. Today should motivate our girls quite a bit to improve themselves and put the hard work in during the summer months. We need to build on the improvements we made as a team this season heading into next fall."
April 15, 2015